Andrew J Foster

Publications (2)37.97 Total impact

• Article: Identifying reaction intermediates and catalytic active sites through in situ characterization techniques.

  Andrew J Foster, Raul F Lobo
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  ABSTRACT: This tutorial review centers on recent advances and applications of experimental techniques that help characterize surface species and catalyst structures under in situ conditions. We start by reviewing recent applications of IR spectroscopy of working catalysis, emphasizing newer approaches such as Sum Frequency Generation and Polarization Modulation-infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. This is followed by a section on solid-state NMR spectroscopy for the detection of surface species and reaction intermediates. These two techniques provide information mainly about the concentration and identity of the prevalent surface species. The following sections center on methods that provide structural and chemical information about the catalyst surface. The increasingly important role of high-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in catalyst characterization is evident from the new and interesting information obtained on supported catalysts as presented in recent reports. X-Ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES and EXAFS) is used increasingly under reaction conditions to great advantage, although is inherently limited to systems where the bulk of the species in the sample are surface species. However, the ability of X-rays to penetrate the sample has been used cleverly by a number of groups to understand how changing reaction conditions change the structure and composition of surface atoms on supported catalyst.
  Chemical Society Reviews 11/2010; 39(12):4783-93. · 28.76 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  Article: Trehalose synthesis and metabolism are required at different stages of plant infection by Magnaporthe grisea.

  Andrew J Foster, Joanna M Jenkinson, Nicholas J Talbot
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  ABSTRACT: The relationship of trehalose metabolism to fungal virulence was explored in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. To determine the role of trehalose synthesis in pathogenesis, we identified and deleted TPS1, encoding trehalose-6-phosphate synthase. A Deltatps1 mutant failed to synthesize trehalose, sporulated poorly and was greatly attenuated in pathogenicity. Appressoria produced by Deltatps1 did not develop full turgor or elaborate penetration hyphae efficiently. To determine the role of subsequent trehalose breakdown, we deleted NTH1, which encodes a neutral trehalase. Nth1 mutants infected plants normally, but showed attenuated pathogenicity due to a decreased ability to colonize plant tissue. A second trehalase was also identified, required both for growth on trehalose and mobilization of intracellular trehalose during infection-related development. TRE1 encodes a cell wall-localized enzyme with characteristics of both neutral and acidic trehalases, but is dispensable for pathogenicity. Our results indicate that trehalose synthesis, but not its subsequent breakdown, is required for primary plant infection by M.grisea, while trehalose degradation is important for efficient development of the fungus in plant tissue following initial infection.
  The EMBO Journal 02/2003; 22(2):225-35. · 9.20 Impact Factor